Taidemaalariliitto

I started dealing with personal themes in my works in 2020. The paintings on display in the exhibition are part of a total of forty works.

In my works I explore humanity, being human: many human emotions from horror to love. The central themes are man’s insanity and getting lost in life, but on the other hand, finding understanding and love.

I want to make visible the experience of growing up in a narrow-minded religious sect, separated from the rest of society in many ways. After my parents divorced, my mother joined Jehovah’s Witnesses and a new life began in our family. All activities outside the sect were considered harmful: I would have been interested in joining a football or basketball team, but they were thought to expose me to bad influences. Wonder Man Macgyver could not be watched due to the potential satanic influence of the series.

The children were frightened by Satan and the demons who possessed the rest of the world. Young people were not encouraged to study, because the end of the world was coming, their professional dreams were also controlled. Heterosexual relationships and marriage were the norm, young people caught in activities outside of them such as masturbation or premarital sex had to be heard by the truth committee behind closed doors.

We were told that we live in a spiritual paradise.

Joel Sievers

Arts Promotion Centre Finland has supported the exhibition.